Aristi Mountain Resort Hotel — Hotel in Zagori Municipality

The Aristi Mountain Lodge is a great place to stay if you want to base yourself near to Vikos Gorge in the Zagoria Mountain Range. We booked a Junior Suite which was very nice and actually wasn't that expensive. The bedding was comfortable and the bathroom was good with lovely toiletries. The 2 best things about the hotel were dinner and the spa area. We don't usually eat in hotel restaurants but the dinners we had were superb. It was brilliant Greek food, cooked with real care & passion, and with an emphasis on local & seasonal ingredients. We did check other restaurants in the area for dinner but the ones we wanted to go to were generally about a 30 min drive away. I would suggest that having a car here is essential as the hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. I used the spa at the end of each day which was really lovely - a good sized pool overlooking the mountains with a really nice sauna and steam room too - everything felt new & fresh. We hiked the Vikos Gorge whilst we were there which was fantastic and something I would highly recommend. Before deciding whether to hike Vikos Gorge, we had read various information about it, so hopefully the information below is helpful to other readers as this is our honest opinion about it:|1 - October was a good time to do it. |2 - I would not suggest hiking the Vikos Gorge in wet weather. Too dangerous & slippery.|3 - It starts with a steep 900m descent to the bottom of the gorge which takes around 45-60 mins. The ground is a combination of rough pathways and gravel.|4 - It is then a 10 mile hike along the gorge. Lots of ups and down - its not flat at all and there are a couple of areas where you need to climb up rocks with the use of ropes. Its not horrendous but you do need to be an experienced hiker to do this. I needed to grab my husband's hand a couple of times whilst I was hoisting myself up the ropes, but I never felt in danger as you are never in a position where you are hanging off a rock or anything!|5 - Then it's a steep 900m ascent to the top which wasn't that bad. |6 - One end of the gorge is about a 10 min drive from the hotel and the other end is about a 30-40 min drive from the hotel The hotel recommended that we take a taxi to the start point and then call for a taxi once we were at the finish point, which we did & which worked very well.|All in all I would say it was a medium to difficult hike but it is very well signposted and I would say that having a guide is not necessary, although it might be a good idea if you are hiking on your own, in case you need a hand up some of the rocks! Equipment wise - good walking boots or shoes with a hard sole, a walking pole and for me, I found wearing a thin pair of gloves useful when climbing up ropes & around rocks etc. There is NOTHING to eat or drink along the way so take supplies. There is also no way out - once you are in the gorge, that's it....so only do it if you are confident of doing the whole thing. It was a great challenge and I would highly recommend it...

The Aristi Mountain Lodge is a great place to stay if you want to base yourself near to Vikos Gorge in the Zagoria Mountain Range. We booked a Junior Suite which was very nice and actually wasn't that expensive. The bedding was comfortable and the bathroom was good with lovely toiletries. The 2 best things about the hotel were dinner and the spa area. We don't usually eat in hotel restaurants but the dinners we had were superb. It was brilliant Greek food, cooked with real care & passion, and with an emphasis on local & seasonal ingredients. We did check other restaurants in the area for dinner but the ones we wanted to go to were generally about a 30 min drive away. I would suggest that having a car here is essential as the hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. I used the spa at the end of each day which was really lovely - a good sized pool overlooking the mountains with a really nice sauna and steam room too - everything felt new & fresh. We hiked the Vikos Gorge whilst we were there which was fantastic and something I would highly recommend. Before deciding whether to hike Vikos Gorge, we had read various information about it, so hopefully the information below is helpful to other readers as this is our honest opinion about it:|1 - October was a good time to do it. |2 - I would not suggest hiking the Vikos Gorge in wet weather. Too dangerous & slippery.|3 - It starts with a steep 900m descent to the bottom of the gorge which takes around 45-60 mins. The ground is a combination of rough pathways and gravel.|4 - It is then a 10 mile hike along the gorge. Lots of ups and down - its not flat at all and there are a couple of areas where you need to climb up rocks with the use of ropes. Its not horrendous but you do need to be an experienced hiker to do this. I needed to grab my husband's hand a couple of times whilst I was hoisting myself up the ropes, but I never felt in danger as you are never in a position where you are hanging off a rock or anything!|5 - Then it's a steep 900m ascent to the top which wasn't that bad. |6 - One end of the gorge is about a 10 min drive from the hotel and the other end is about a 30-40 min drive from the hotel The hotel recommended that we take a taxi to the start point and then call for a taxi once we were at the finish point, which we did & which worked very well.|All in all I would say it was a medium to difficult hike but it is very well signposted and I would say that having a guide is not necessary, although it might be a good idea if you are hiking on your own, in case you need a hand up some of the rocks! Equipment wise - good walking boots or shoes with a hard sole, a walking pole and for me, I found wearing a thin pair of gloves useful when climbing up ropes & around rocks etc. There is NOTHING to eat or drink along the way so take supplies. There is also no way out - once you are in the gorge, that's it....so only do it if you are confident of doing the whole thing. It was a great challenge and I would highly recommend it...

Not knowing much about this area we decided to stay at this hotel - which looked good in photos and reviews. It exceeded all expectations - arriving late in the evening the room was perfect - spacious, comfortable - and I have never had a view like the one in the morning from a hotel! Breakfast was very good - lots of local products, baking, fresh fruit and (although we never needed this) a cooked breakfast too - and when the weather allowed eating outside with the stunning views. The biggest plus I think for the hotel was the staff - and I think it is the first hotel I can say that about, the owner (Stella) sat down with us and helped us advising places to visit and eat - (the area has little in English tourist information before you go). And kitchen staff went out of their way to help take lunch one day and breakfast when we had to leave on the last day before 7am. We ate twice in the restaurant - the house local wine was really good and food was high class - and really not expensive for the quality you get. The hotel spa was good to visit - the pool was understandably cool, though the hottub was a little chilly the days we were there - there is a steam room and sauna to get hot in!

There is so much good food locally - many giving you 2 plates and you can order from a selection of freshly made food - many places you will be told what is on the menu that day, the food is not expensive (nice places greek salad often big enough for lunch for 2 was often 6-7 euros, bigger mains 8-10 euros and fish a little more).

The area is so stunning - there is just not anywhere that is not beautiful and on a huge scale - very green, traditional villages and stone bridges, plenty of wildlife - we even spotted a golden eagle. Of course the Vikos Gorge has to be one of the main attractions - around 1km deep - there are many viewpoints which are a short walk from where you can park a car, or if you want to walk up it (15km and not all easy going) the hotel will help with transport for a fee.

I can only think more people do not visit here as it is not that easy to get there - we flew to Corfu, got the ferry and hired a car from Igoumenitsa (around 1hr45 drive) and a car is really necessary to there and around the area. We did also look at driving from Thessaloniki - though avoiding a ferry trip this was over 3 hours driving.

I would love to return some day - and the hotel would be one of the reasons for...